Change is a good thing

I can get caught in a rut after awhile of being in one place. It is easy for me to make excuses for not getting things done or for not being creative or trying new things. Even in Mexico after a couple of months it was the same-old, same-old. Through no fault of Mexico but of my own.

But now we are in a new town with new things to look at, new parks to run around in, new motivations.  Hey, I have even managed to write a blog post 2 days in a row! Things I want to do now that I am home....read more, excercise regularly, not watch tv as much (or surf the net), make things.

I discovered pinterest and have a boat load of crafts and diy projects to try like this

amygregson.blogspot.com

and this....

prudentbaby.com

or this

                                                                  ana-white.com

Stay tuned see what I accomplish!

The time of our lives

Sorry folks. I just realized it's been way too long since I posted and now we are HOME!! It is hard for me to summarize (or remember) the last few months in Mazatlan but I know that it was good! It was both a whirlwind and a slow moving train as I was looking forward to being home and with family and friends again.

Breckyn and I flew home last weekend and enjoyed the holiday with my parents and brother Mark who came into town to see us. Steve left on Monday and has been working his way across the country with his good friend Josh who flew down to help him drive. We were so grateful for his willingness to make the trip with him as it's not really fun to drive 3600 miles in 3 days. But they did it.

Steve is dropping Josh off in his hometown of St. Louis and then Steve is driving the last leg of the journey by himself. He should be here Friday night or Saturday at some point. Probably Friday as I know he misses his baby girl very much!

So from here we are living with my parents and Steve is job hunting. I have no idea what the plans are other than that. But you know what? If I learned one thing in the last year, it's that God has us in the palm of his hand and I am not worried at all about what his plans are for us.

I just know that we followed him to Mexico and had the time of our lives.

Baking at the Bean

I thought I'd show you a couple of pictures of my Fridays baking at the shop:


It starts off with a clean workspace-

I bake 4 batches of strawberry-pecan, mango-coconut and berry berry almond scones-

Bake for 20 minutes on 375 and they're done!

And then bake

1 batch of sin-o-man buns...they are REALLY yummy!
2 batches of either apple cinnamon, bran molasses, or boysenberry muffins
1-2 batches of brownies
home-made granola for the parfaits
and then many cookies: chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin

The happy (and really messy) baker-

6 hours later it ends up like this:





by then I am usually exhausted and ready for a nap!

Breckyn's first camping trip!

As promised, here are a couple of shots of our camping trip.


Breckyn, in the truck ready to go!




Breckyn helping with the tent.

Trying to get out.

Dead dolphin washed up on shore. :(

Playing in the sand.


Another view from camp. Do you see the cows roaming on the left?

Yeah, that's firewood. It's pretty serious.



Turkey dogs! so good! It's hard to get a good hotdog here but turkey dogs seem to be the best.

View from camp.

Sunset from the campsite. Stunning!



Happy family :)





Volleyball in the a.m.

We're going camping now!

I have believed 3 things about how I want to raise my family.

1. We will always have a dog. (Right now doesn't count. We miss you Roscoe and wish you could be with us!)

2. We will always have a real, live, pine-needles-falling-on-the-floor Christmas tree.

3. We will going camping. In a tent.

I was raised camping with my brothers on family vacations and those are some of my fondest memories of being a kid and being with my parents and brothers. There is magic in smelling like smoke and hearing the noises of the night surround you as you fall asleep laughing and talking with your siblings. My absolute favorite sound is the zipper of my parents 60-year old army tent. And the smell of that old musty air fills me with joy!

Pure magic.

So guess what we are doing Wednesday night? That's right. Camping!

We are going for one night only with the students up to a beach about 1 hour away. The students went a couple of months ago for a week on their mission trip but I didn't want to deal with Breckyn for that long in those conditions. But this is the perfect opportunity. One night. At the beach. Can not wait!


Stay tuned for pics!

a quiet, quiet afternoon

It is another beautiful day in Maz and I am tempted to go to the beach but the house is empty and I am loving hanging out with Breckyn here all by myself. And besides, with a 15-month-old I can handle the sand about every other day. Removing sand is a chore! I thought I'd post a couple of pictures from yesterday.

Carnival!

I have been hearing about Carnival for a long time now. It's been mostly warnings of the chaos in the streets and how the traffic is horrible in town. I had no idea what it was until I looked up on Wikipedia. It's Mardi Gras, a festive season right before Lent.



Starting today, it's a 5 day-long party of parades and drinking in the streets. Well, it's a little more than that....

According to mexicanguru.com, "The tourism board touts Mazatlan’s carnival as family-oriented, and it’s true that there are poetry contents, literary awards, and ballet in the baseball stadium. Kids compete for prizes at school, and a couple is elected as diminutive king and queen to reign over the annual awards presentations. Extended families attend rock and ska concerts at venues throughout the city; they dance the tambora, the traditional oompah band music of northern Mexico.

Clowns stomp down the street atop peg-egged stilts. Adorable kids wearing grease paint and animal costumes snake down the avenue in conga lines. Marching bands rattle and hum.

Along with their court, the carnival king and queen ride in an impressive float of flowers, colored paper, and anything that glistens or glitters. Dressed to kill in tulle, organdy, velveteen, and other sweat-producing fabrics despite the heat, they herald the parade as representatives of cultural and community pride."

Although not quite up my ally, I would like to experience a taste of of what this city has traditionally been a part of for over 100 years. The spectacular colors and decorations and people in costume will be a thrill to see.

The Joys of Baking

I started to bake for the shop one day a week. I was really excited to get out of the house and do something that makes me feel like I am accomplishing something and really helping out the shop. And how I do love baking!

Or so I thought.

It's one thing to bake a batch of cookies at home for my family and quite a different thing when it's for the coffee shop and customers are paying 35 pesos for a strawberry scone or a banana nut muffin.

It's been "fun" figuring out the timing on the industrial convection oven. Last week I left the granola in the oven 1 minute too long (maybe it was 2) and it was scorched! Then I pulled the scones out a little too early and they were really gooey so I stuck them back in for another second and poof in that second they burned! How is that possible?!

Then I accidentally added 1 too many eggs to the sugar cookie recipe making them really, really sticky and completely uneatable.

There are more stories but then you might start to question any ability I may have to don an apron and call myself a baker.

sigh.

I am thankful for Heidi, the patient owner of the Looney Bean, who smiles and tells me "It's really okay. There's a learning curve."

Well, tomorrow is another day at the baking station and I am determined to get it right this time.

Christmas in PA

We just returned from our 3 week Christmas break in Pennsylvania. Christmas is my favorite time of year and it was wonderful to get to be home with family & friends and really important to us for Breckyn to spend time with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Breckyn with her cousin Courtney on Christmas eve

We even got a couple of small snowstorms to remind us of why we are living in a tropical climate! We took her out in the snow a couple of times to show her what it was like and it was pretty comical to watch her try to walk through the snow with her over sized snow boots.

Enjoying the snow!

It was a little bittersweet to return to Maz. But back to the grind, right?

The first semester program is winding down and there are only a couple of weeks left with this group before a new group of students join us for the second half of the year. But before then, the group is headed 75 miles south to a little fishing village called Teacapan. There they will be helping with the fixing-up of a property that is being turned into a retreat center for local pastors and groups to meet. The property is owned by missionary friends of Tom & Heidi who also live here in Mazatlan. Mostly we will be painting, although there is some electrical and plumbing work to be done as well.

Coming back after a couple of weeks off has allowed us to feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle the next 5 months. Keep us in your prayers as we seek the Lord for wisdom and guidance concerning our future.